Wantagh High School senior Natasha Meagher is a National Merit finalist

Wantagh High School senior Natasha Meagher found out that she was in competition for a National Merit Scholarship in a most unusual — and surprising — manner.

Principal Paul Guzzone, Meagher said, told her while she was in her calculus classroom, catching her totally off-guard.

“Dr. Guzzone walked in and said, ‘Congratulations.’ And I was like, ‘What?’” she recounted.

The Illinois-based National Merit Scholarship program is a nationwide competition for both recognition and college scholarships. Students can qualify as semifinalists by taking the Preliminary SAT and scoring in the top 1 percent in their state.

They then must submit a detailed application, which includes personal essays and information about their extracurricular activities, any awards they have received and leadership positions they have held. In addition, they must have an endorsement from a school official, and their SAT score must align with their PSAT score, as a confirmation of their qualification.

Once they are finalists, they receive Merit scholarships.

“Some of them are corporate scholarships,” Meagher said. “Some of them are from the actual Merit Corporation, and some of them are from individual colleges.”

Meagher took the PSAT during her junior year, and found out that she was a semifinalist in September — the start of her senior year. In February, after the application process was completed, she learned that she was a finalist.

She said she wasn’t necessarily in search of a Merit scholarship. One day in September, she was sitting in Kali Psihos’s calculus class when the principal walked in and wished her congratulations.

“It’s kind of a funny story, both times,” Meagher said of finding out about her status as both a semifinalist and finalist. “The first time, Dr. Guzzone walked in and said, ‘Congratulations,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Congratulations on your award.’ And then I was supposed to get a letter saying that I was a finalist, but I never got one. I checked the status of my application in February in that same class, and saw that I made it. So I found out both of the big updates in that classroom.”

Meagher is a lifelong Wantagh student — prior to attending the high School, she went to Wantagh Elementary. Always having a knack for science, she hopes to study chemical engineering in whichever college she ends up attending.

“I’m a big fan of all of our science teachers,” Meagher said. “Mrs. (Valarie) Sebastiano, Mrs. (Samantha) Gordon, Ms. (Lori) Houde.”

Gordon is known in the Wantagh school community for her hands-on approach to teaching physics, which, according to Gordon, is a way of making a generally maligned class fun for students. Gordon was featured in the Herald in January when she was among 221 educators in New York State to be accepted into the Master Teacher program.

Additionally, Meagher took classes with Salvatore Mule, another recognizable name in the Wantagh community, known for his hydroponics lab, which teaches students how to grow food without soil.

“His classes are really fun,” Meagher said of Mule. “I had one of his classes fourth period, and it was nice to basically get a break during the day to water plants, feed fish, and learn about all of that.”

Meagher said she wants to study chemical engineering because of the wide variety of careers available in that field, from household products to energy sources, and the pharmaceutical industry.

“She’s just a fantastic student,” Guzzone said. “But more than that, she’s just a fantastic person. She cares a great deal about her work, she’s always involved in school activities, and she’s just committed to excellence. Being selected as a National Merit finalist is the outcome she deserves.”